Glacier's Introduction

Glacier was rescued by Mid-Atlantic Samoyed Rescue. Glacier is a 2 year old male. Before he came in to rescue, back in January, he had emergency surgery to flush stones out of his bladder. At this time he lost the use of part of his penis! His stones have redeveloped and he needs to have surgery to open up his bladder, scoop out the stones and flush what's left of his urinary tract. His prognosis is very good as long as he stays on special U/D food for the rest of his life.

Now the good news is that Glacier has just been adopted! When SamUrgency was set-up, the guidelines were written to cover recently adopted Samoyeds too, just because of a situation like this. So, lucky Glacier will be able to recover at home with his brand-new family who he has already begun to bond with!!

Eileen's Description of Glacier's Condition

Glacier is in a critical situation. He currently has two large stones in his penis which have passed the semi-closed urethrostomy opening (from Jan 2002) and are wedged between this opening and the tip of his penis. He is not obstructed yet, but it can happen at any time. When that happens, it will be a life or death emergency very fast! The stones in his bladder are not the critical part of this surgery, but they need to come out. Dr. Deutsch will do a hydropopulsion method of flushing them from his bladder after he creates another urethrostomy to remove the lodged stones in his penis.

Eileen's Glacier Update - August 29

Glacier is recovering from his surgery. Dr. Deutsch said the x-rays prove there are no more stones left in his system, so he's starting fresh on his new diet. They had to make another opening to remove those two stones in his penis though and enlarge the other opening for the stones in his bladder to come out. So hopefully that won't distress him...he can be very creative to keep his feet dry! He's going to look like a sprinkler now with 3 openings!

Last night we missed him so much and worried what he must be thinking. We hated to have to put him through this so soon after we adopted him and earned his trust. Even though he didn't act like he was in pain, we know those two stones had to been bothering him. Hopefully getting rid of that pain will have compensated for having to go to the vet and have him mess with his maleness again. I'll write more after I speak with the vet this morning. Just called the techs at 7:30 am to see how his night was. Hopefully we'll visit tonight if the Dr. thinks that'll help.

Eileen's Additional Glacier Update - August 29

Good News! Just spoke with Dr. Deutsch and Glacier is up and about, eating well, alert, urinating well, but bleeding a lot when he urinates. We can't bring him home until the bleeding stops. He is giving him something for his pain, but not tranquilizing him so he'll stay alert.

He is eating his Hills U/D very well. I'm glad he adjusted his system to it a week prior to surgery. That will help his belly. He has put on some weight because he's happy and eating well. He weighed 50 lbs yesterday morning. He was 43 lbs when I got him. He is eating the proper amount, because I don't want to get him used to eating a lot! I want to keep him in good physical shape under all that fur!

He said he won't be sending out the stones for analysis because they were all clearly calcium oxalate stones...so that will save us about $90 dollars!

I asked him about visiting and if he thought it would be helpful or not given his recent adoption status. He thought since he is eating well that we should not put him through the separation anxiety again. He is better if we take him home when he sees us again. If we feel we need to see him, that's another story. So we will see him when we can make him happy and bring him home! Hopefully that will be Friday night.

Thank everyone for keeping paws (and legs) crossed for him! He's a great dog!!!

Eileen's Glacier Update - September 4

Glacier has been recovering at home and his care got quite intensive. Saturday was fine. We kept him quiet and gave him mild tranquilizers cause he was so excited to be home. But Sunday he woke up bleeding very badly from the urethrostomy site. The vet had warned us that this would happen, but it was upsetting for all of us. He bled a lot all day after he would urinate. Thank goodness we could wash him off outside. Then we put depends on him and that helped keep him from licking himself and kept the blood under control. Monday he was better just didn't like wearing the depends. Yesterday he was great until about 5PM when he seemed to be bothered again. He didn't have to wear his "jock strap" so he was happier. No bleeding but just sore. I was glad I had off on Tuesday. I have to work this weekend to cover for it though. We'll be checking on him during the day today. The new opening looks so raw and painful...we feel so bad for him.

Eileen's Glacier Update - September 16

Glacier is doing very well. Eating his Hills UD without any coaxing...on his second bag already! I thought I might have a picky eater but it's amazing what he'll eat when he's hungry! Taking all the pills is another story! Have finally stopped trying to outwit him, impossible, he's so smart and clever, and just put them in the back of his throat where he can't "taste" them. He takes them very well with lots of good scratches in his favorite spots. Love to watch him "tap dance" with that hind leg.

His incision looks so much better. Where it was once open and very raw and painful looking, it has closed nicely and you can hardly see it. I think he's pretty proud of it now too, he flashes us all the time now laying on his back.

Glacier's Glacier Update - September 24

I just wanted to let you know how grateful we are that you (for the Mid Atlantic Samoyed Rescue) contacted SamUrgency about my vet's plans for my surgery. I received a check for the complete surgery bill over the weekend and I've noticed a very happy atmosphere around the house! I also feel I can hold my head high cause I have many special friends who care about me. You should see me strut my stuff.

I went kayaking and hunting for shark's teeth and other fossils along the Potomac River with Mom and Dad on Saturday. With the full moon and the stronger tides, they decided not to do any swimming. But I had a good time running up and down the shore and digging in the pebbles.

Licks and "high fives" all around to a great group of people from one happy fella.